Organising to fight and win.

In recent years the world has been rocked by dramatic political upheavals such as Occupy and the Arab Spring. We see new left political formations uniting new layers of activists across Europe, and in Latin America social movements have captured governments and embarked on radical political experiments across that continent. LeftWin is a blog dedicated… Continue reading What is LeftWin?

A hundred years ago today, the Bolsheviks toppled the unelected pro-war Russian government and handed power to the Soviets – grassroots workers councils, which gave ordinary people control over society unrivalled before and since.

The new Labour/NZ First/Greens government is inheriting some significant challenges – one of which is infrastructure. Failure to invest in infrastructure has led to some major problems in NZ’s cities. A key example of this problem is congestion in Auckland with gridlock by the airport reaching crisis levels. The new government has announced an ambitious… Continue reading Love light rail? Hate the petrol tax.

In the lead up to the election there has been some minor media commentary about Labour’s industrial relations policy. Business NZ has come out against Labour’s proposed “Fair Pay Agreements” (FPAs), and Jacinda Ardern was questioned on Labour Policy during the leader’s debate. What are these FPAs and should we support them? “Fair Pay… Continue reading What are Fair Pay Agreements?

Leftwin has recently posted articles critiquing the politics of The Oppertunities Party. Wellington based activist Ben Wylie-van Eerd wrote this response and asked this blog to cover it. ‘Neither Left Nor Right!’, TOP proudly proclaims in its communications. ‘Just what works’. ‘Evidence based’. But what does it really mean? This has been a source of much… Continue reading The left wing case for TOP

Across the country Labour has just put up thousands of billboards. From the one end of the country to the other, a smiling face of Andrew Little is winking at passing motorists. Beneath the neat smile and clean suit, a promise- “A Fresh Approach”. And now he is gone. Responding to poor polling, the Labour… Continue reading WTF just happened in the Labour Party?

Leftwin recently posted a piece that looks at some of the detail in TOP policy regarding housing and the Minimum wage. It was noticed, and TOP felt the need to reply. Few quick things: On Housing In the original critique Leftwin raised concerns that you were proposing all state housing be “gifted”to “community providers”. You… Continue reading Opportunities Party- Which side are you on?

Gareth Morgan’s Opportunities Party is working to appear a radical departure from the status quo. Proposals for a dramatic change to taxation policy and the partial roll out of a Universal Basic Income are a welcome political development. It’s good to have a political party seriously calling for the rich to pay more tax. But… Continue reading Gareth Morgans vision for working people – Stay Poor